Electronic Speech Treatment Device Providing Altered Auditory Feedback and Biofeedback

Abstract

A device and method for improving speech. One embodiment comprises an apparatus and method for treating stuttering by providing biofeedback to monitor aspects of the user's voice and also providing altered audio feedback (AAF) to induce fluent speech. Biofeedback features include monitoring phonated intervals. AAF features include delayed auditory feedback (DAF), frequency-altered auditory feedback (FAF), and switching the user's voice between his or her left and right ears multiple times per second. The biofeedback controls AAF parameters including volume, which changes smoothly. Bluetooth is also included to connect to wireless microphones and earphones. Another embodiment comprises an apparatus and method for use by persons without speech disabilities for the purpose of improving public speaking by providing their voice back to their ears altered to appear to be in a different emotional state, thus inducing this preferred emotional state in the person speaking.

Description

BACKGROUNDDiscussion of Prior Art[0001]Speech is produced by a person releasing air from his or her lungs, then tensing his or her vocal folds, which causes a vibration known as phonation; this humming sound then resonates in the person's pharynx and is articulated into speech sounds by the person's lips, jaw, and tongue to produce vowels and voiced or phonated consonants, e.g., / b / and / d / . Other speech sounds are voiceless and are produced by releasing air and moving one's articulation muscles without phonation, e.g., / p / and / t / . To produce the name “Patty,” the voiceless consonant / p / is produced, followed by the voiced vowel / short-a / , followed by the voiceless consonant / t / , followed by the voiced vowel / long-e / . Thus to say this two-syllable word, one's vocal folds switch on and off several times, resulting in two phonated intervals.[0002]Brain scans of stutterers have found two neurological abnormalities during stuttering: overactivity in the speech motor control area, and u...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention broadly described herein, one embodiment of this invention comprises a system to treat stuttering, with a microphone to receive a user's voice, an accelerometer to detect phonation, connected to a digital signal processor (DSP) to measure the user's phonated intervals, with DSP software to provide AAF including DAF and FAF, with the DSP controlling AAF parameters in accordance with the user's phonated intervals, such as increasing delay length and increasing pitch shift when the user's phonated intervals are too short, and then provided this auditory biofeedback to the user's ears via earphones.

[0024]In another embodiment of the present invention broadly described herein, one embodiment of this invention comprises a system to altering the emotional state of a person who is speaking, for example to improve the performance of public speaking, with the user wearing a microphone and one or more earphones, and a single, self-contained device that alters the user's voice to appear to be in a different emotional state, with a control for the user to select an emotional state (e.g., funny or serious), and another control for the user to select the degree of the emotional state (e.g., very funny vs. just a little funny). This device can also analyze the user's voice and alert the user to undesirable vocal characteristics, e.g., microtremors indicating stress or lying.

Problems solved by technology

Stuttering increases in stressful and noisy situations.

This eliminated the electrodes and picked up vocal fold activity well, but wasn't popular with speech-language pathologists because they are typically trained to teach stutterers to slow their speech by stretching vowels (i.e., eliminating too-short phonated intervals), as opposed to training stutterers to relax their vocal folds to lower their vocal pitch.

Abrupt changes in how one's hears one's voice, especially having loud AAF switch on and off suddenly, have a jarring effect on the user and increases stress, which is what stutterers try to avoid.

The combination of two devices, two batteries, cables and plugs, etc., make the device cumbersome to use.